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Leviticus 20:23

in Leviticus 20

You must not follow the statutes of the nations I am driving out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And ye shall not walk in the customs of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they did all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.

KJV

And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.

This verse in Leviticus 20

Commentary

3 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

You are therefore to keep all My statutes and ordinances

on Leviticus 20:22-24

The land itself will "vomit you out", as at 18:28, so the country is described as reacting to what happens on it. Verse 23 gives the reason the nations were driven out, "Because they did all these things", and the same threat now stands over Israel.

This site's exposition

Because they did all these things, I abhorred them

The word statutes is used twice in two verses, for God's statutes in verse 22 and for the nations' statutes here. Israel is set between two bodies of custom. The nations are named by what they did, all these things listed in the chapter.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation which I cast out before you,....

The words behind it

15 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וְלֹ֤אand not

    velo'H3808 →5168 times

  • תֵֽלְכוּ֙you will walk

    telekhuH1980 →1546 times

  • בְּחֻקֹּ֣תin [the] statutes of

    bechukotH2708 →104 times

  • הַגּ֔וֹיthe nation

    hagoyH1471 →561 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־which

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • אֲנִ֥יI

    ʾaniH589 →874 times

  • מְשַׁלֵּ֖חַ[am] about to send away

    meshaleachH7971 →845 times

  • מִפְּנֵיכֶ֑םfrom before you

    mipeneikhemH6440 →2123 times

  • כִּ֤יfor

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • אֵ֙לֶּה֙these [things]

    ʾelehH428 →746 times

  • עָשׂ֔וּthey have done

    ʾasuH6213 →2628 times

  • וָאָקֻ֖ץand I loathed

    vaakutzH6973 →

  • בָּֽם׃<in> <the> them

    bam

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Leviticus 18:24

    Do not defile yourselves by any of these practices, for by all these things the nations I am driving out before you have defiled themselves.

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 18:12

      For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD. And because of these detestable things, the LORD your God is driving out the nations before you.

    • Leviticus 18:30

      You must keep My charge not to practice any of the abominable customs that were practiced before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them. I am the LORD your God.”

  • Through

    Leviticus 18:3

    You must not follow the practices of the land of Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not follow the practices of the land of Canaan, into which I am bringing you.…

    it leads to

    • Exodus 23:24

      You must not bow down to their gods or serve them or follow their practices. Instead, you are to demolish them and smash their sacred stones to pieces.

    • Ezekiel 23:8

      She did not give up the prostitution she began in Egypt, when men slept with her in her youth, caressed her virgin bosom, and poured out their lust upon her.

    • 1 Peter 4:2–4

      Consequently, he does not live out his remaining time on earth for human passions, but for the will of God.

    • Ezekiel 20:7–8

      And I said to them: ‘Each of you must throw away the abominations before his eyes, and you must not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’

  • Through

    Deuteronomy 9:5

    It is not because of your righteousness or uprightness of heart that you are going in to possess their land, but it is because of their wickedness that the LORD your God is driving…

    it leads to

    • Titus 3:5

      He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

    • Genesis 17:8

      And to you and your descendants I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as an eternal possession; and I will be their God.”

Where this verse is studied

About Leviticus

The Scapegoat, William Holman Hunt, 1854. Public domain.
The Scapegoat, William Holman Hunt, 1854. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.